One of the downsides of being a semi-functioning adult in today's world is that your gaming life dwindles into nothingness. Time once dedicated to committing virtual atrocities is now eaten up by work and a social life/kids (delete as appropriate).

Fortunately technology has advanced to a point where your mobile phone can possess enough computing power to play moderately decent games. Allowing you to sneak in an hour or so of gaming before the real world starts nagging at your soul again. I’m therefore going to take it upon myself to find some of these half-decent games and share my findings to anyone who cares to listen!

I’m looking for games with a bit of depth - solid games that have a little something about them (rather than some puzzle game that your mum plays on her tablet before bed). Armed with my trusty Samsung S7, I’m going to go where many a casual gamer has gone before (but probably forgotten to write about!).

Most of these games will be free to play, but who knows I may go wild and splash out a quid or two!

Lets Begin!

Eternium

Despite sounding like a shitcoin, Eternium is actually a dungeon crawler and a pretty nifty one too! Whilst it doesn’t exactly push boundaries, Eternium is a very solid and polished piece of gaming. If your into dungeon crawlers this will be right up your alley. If not, then it still may be worth a thrash thanks to its well-crafted control system. Let's have a look...

Gameplay

You have 3 classes to choose from - a Warrior/tank melee type, a rangering/rogue type and a wizardy/mage kinda guy (I’ve spent this week as a wizard).

Essentially the game is marauding through dungeons, killings skeletons and the like, collecting gold, loot and companions along the way. There is some sort of story linking your progress through the levels, however it did not grab my attention and if questioned I would not have a clue to what my character's motive is.

This does not matter however as the gameplay is very satisfying!

As you progress through the game your character and companions level up, unlocking new abilities and finding better equipment. You can have a maximum of 3 companions fighting alongside you, the slots of which can be purchased using gems (the free to play aspect I’ll get onto later).

One area I do like is the crafting system, which allows you to combine your loot into a new item. There’s no chasing for recipes and ingredients, and instead you choose what you want to craft (say a new sword), choose three items to use (the rarer the items the better quality the sword), hit craft and then a timer starts. Your item is then crafted in the background whilst you carrying on fighting.

This game is all about action and it does it very well, easy to jump in and hard to put down. Nothing too complex but gives enough of a dopamine hit to be a very satisfactory experience. It can definitely hold my attention for an hour or two.

Controls

A touch screen doesn’t always lend itself for gaming controls, however Eternium has done a top job here. A simple point and tap completes most actions, and spells and abilities are activated using gestures on the target area.

This is one of Eternium strongest areas - where you can build combos of different abilities through a series of finger flicks. The effects of which can be very satisfying indeed and does make you feel more involved in the action. Your companions abilities are also controlled via gestures, so you can control your whole party’s attacks and co-ordinate in a very slick and intuitive manner.

Free to Play Model

Eternium is free to play and is funded through in game purchases. In order to unlock new slots of abilities and companions, you need to pay in gems. You can collect gems in game, through completing achievements, enemy drops and replaying levels. You can also earn more gems by watching ads.

The ads do break the momentum of the game slightly but they are optional and you can happily play for hours without watching an ad (although I am always drawn in by the 5 free gems).

You can purchase more gems and better quality equipment with hard-earned real money, however I haven’t felt particularly hindered in not buying anything so far. I assume this may not be the case at later stages of the game, but for such a polished experience I’d be quite happy to throw a couple of quid at this game.

Conclusion

I’d give this game a rating of 8/10. A very solid and enjoyable game that I would happily recommend. Excellent control system, easy on the eye graphics and addictive gameplay.

Funding model isn’t too intrusive and I could happily sit for an hour or two playing this game. Not exactly groundbreaking but a still an enjoyable experience nonetheless. Perfect for when you’ve got an free half hour to bash out a level, do a little crafting and a nice spot of inventory management.

If you’ve enjoyed my review and have any suggestions please feel free to post them in the comments!